Abstract
The purpose of this paper is to examine and evaluate the impact of a short-term dramatherapy intervention with an adolescent client seeking asylum. An overview of literature of recent writing in psychoanalysis, psychology, intercultural therapy and dramatherapy provides a brief summary of the psychological impact of forced migration on the adolescent asylum seeking population, highlighting in particular the simultaneous impact of the upheavals of identity associated with adolescence, migration and trauma. A narrative case study provides a rich description of the intervention. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify prominent themes related to client difficulties, coping strategies and engagement with dramatherapy techniques. The results of this analysis are discussed in light of prominent dramatherapy literature and the co-relation between core dramatherapy processes and the increase in the client’s coping abilities are evaluated. The study concludes that the short-term dramatherapeutic intervention was able to contribute to the enhancement of the client’s resilience, however highlights the necessity of involvement of multiple agencies in addressing the complex needs of separated asylum seeking children.